Reward or persuasion? The battle to define the meaning of a citation

[B.G. Sloan]

I hadn't really thought a lot about defining the meaning of a citation as being "reward OR persuasion."
 
After thinking a bit about how I use citations I think I fall in the "reward AND persuasion" camp rather in either the "reward" OR "persuasion" camps.
 
When I write papers I use citations as a rhetorical device, which falls into the "persuasion" category. When I track citations to my papers I tend to view them as indicators of quality or impact, which falls into the "reward" category.
 
Bernie Sloan
Sora Associates
Bloomington, IN

--- On Mon, 2/9/09, Eugene Garfield <garfield at CODEX.CIS.UPENN.EDU> wrote:

From: Eugene Garfield <garfield at CODEX.CIS.UPENN.EDU>
Subject: Davis, PM (Davis, Philip M.) Reward or persuasion? The battle to define the meaning of a citation LEARNED PUBLISHING, 22 (1): 5-11 JAN 2009
To: SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
Date: Monday, February 9, 2009, 12:30 PM


E-mail Address: pmd8 at cornell.edu 

Author(s): Davis, PM (Davis, Philip M.)
 
Title: Reward or persuasion? The battle to define the meaning of a 
citation 

Source: LEARNED PUBLISHING, 22 (1): 5-11 JAN 2009 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

KeyWords Plus: SCIENCE; QUALITY; NATIONS; IMPACT; MODEL; TOOL 

Abstract: The history and development of the Science Citation Index (SCI) 
is an ex(example of the power of users in defining and influencing the 
development of a new technology. The SCI was developed as a tool for the 
historian of science for the purpose of tracing die history of ideas, but 
it was appropriated by users for purposes for which it was unintended - as 
a tool for evaluating the literature, individuals, institutions, and 
countries. The development of a citation tool gave rise to a debate over 
what is actually measured by citation. The citation-was-reward camp views 
citations as indicators of quality and impact, whereas the citation-as-
persuasion. oil camp views citations as no more than rhetorical devices. 
While neither view call fully explain how authors use citations, citation-
as-reward prevails as the (dominant interpretation. 

Addresses: Cornell Univ, Dept Commun, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA 

Reprint Address: Davis, PM, Cornell Univ, Dept Commun, 336 Kennedy Hall, 
Ithaca, NY 14853 USA. 

E-mail Address: pmd8 at cornell.edu 

Cited Reference Count: 41 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: ASSOC LEARNED PROFESSIONAL SOC PUBL 

Publisher Address: SOUTH HOUSE, THE STREET WORTHING, W SUSSEX BN13 3UU, 
ENGLAND 

ISSN: 0953-1513 

DOI: 10.1087/095315108X378712 

29-char Source Abbrev.: LEARN PUBL 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Learn. Publ. 

Source Item Page Count: 7 

Subject Category: Information Science & Library Science 

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